Q is for Questing Dice

Today's installment of the A to Z Challenge concerns the ways in which Questing Dice can add zing to your Risus game. Those of you that come to Risus Monkey for geomorphs or general gaming bloggery may not be familiar with this oft-overlooked Risus rule. After all, it first appeared in the Risus Companion and not the original 6-page rules that can be downloaded for free. Indeed, I am obligated by Article XII of the Charter of the International Order of Risus to point out that the Companion is in no way required to enjoy Risus. The Companion is modest.

But I digress. The Companion does present Questing Dice (and their Lucky Shot siblings) as a way to gain a fixed number of extra dice in a given session. They are a little stash of Awesome that you can spend to add dice to any single cliche roll.

Well, almost any cliche roll. Questing Dice, you see, must include a limiting clause. Whereas Lucky Shots can be used for any roll, Questing Dice can only be used (as described in the Companion) for tasks relating to a particular goal (or "Quest"). That's why you get five of them rather than three when you allocate one of your dice during character creation.

So, I finally come to my point. You can do amazing things with Questing Dice if you broaden the scope of what types of limitations can be attached to them. Instead of limiting your Questing Dice by Why you are doing something or What you hope to accomplish (that "quest" thing again), why not focus on the How?

I'm thinking specifically of vehicles, gizmos, and artifacts. Questing Dice associated with such things can only be employed if the specified item would deliver a concrete advantage in a given situation. And because Risus already has rules for Tools of the Trade, such an item would have to go beyond what would normally be considered tools for a character.

As an example, consider that a Strapping Farmboy Chosen To Wield The Sword of Kings (3) has "Sword of Kings" already rolled into the cliche. It would be munchkinish and lame to give such a character Questing Dice (Sword of Kings). On the other hand, the same Questing Dice would be totally appropriate for a Practical Mercenary Captain (4), who would otherwise be assumed to wield a regular sword.

Other possibilities for Questing Dice:

• Signature Spells
• Special Techniques
• Maneuvers
• Social Favors
• Divine Blessings (with weird stipulations).

And while allies are often handled with the Sidekicks & Shieldmates rule (also in the Companion), Questing Dice (My Badass Henchman) provides another option beyond treating them as "yes-men" (mere tools of the trade).

Finally, if you really want to stretch the original intent of the rule, each individual questing die (normally purchased in groups of 5) could have it's own limitation. The idea here is that it could add color to combat to be have to narrate a specific trick, technique, or capability that provided your advantage. I'm specifically thinking of vehicles here, where a character's tramp freighter (for example) might have its questing dice split out as tricked out engines, smuggler's compartments, deceptive appearance, illegal weaponry, and reputation in certain quarters.